The hottest Airbnb deals are—surprise!—a little bit out of the way.
The home-and-room rental platform has revealed the top 17 neighborhoods whose bookings grew the most this year, based on 140 million arrivals at 3 million homes. Peppered throughout are terms like “off the usual tourist path” or “a tranquil outpost” and “though detached from city proper.” [...]
While smaller than many of Airbnb’s major markets, these neighborhoods could be in for even more growth in 2017.
— qz.com
In a data analysis report unveiled yesterday, Airbnb summarizes what travelers are allegedly looking for this year: "In cities like Miami and Seoul, travelers to this year’s trending neighborhoods can connect with Experience hosts for local access you won’t find in typical tourist guides: In... View full entry
So I’d argue that the birth of the middle class, or the managerial middle class, is in some ways tied to the invention of the skyscraper. — JStor
Before the skyscraper, looking down at people from great heights was more of a figurative state of mind than an actual experience. But afterwards, the notion of people as dots on a landscape went beyond just a slangy Georges Seurat reference and became a Thing. But what were the ramifications of... View full entry
Each generation likes to think it is unique, or at least living on the cutting-edge; but archaeologists have long known that history has a way of repeating itself. Although North America is often considered to be part of the "New World," inhabitations on this continent date back millennia. In this... View full entry
Daniel Libeskind loves the multi-faceted nature of New York City's inhabitants; the rich, the poor, the successful, and perhaps most amusingly, the failures who think they're successful. Although the architect doesn't really break any new conceptual ground in this short video from the Louisiana... View full entry
French website Mac Generation has obtained photos of newly completed portions of the Apple Campus 2 as designed by Foster + Partners. The exterior, which in renderings possessed a certain monolithic frisbee quality, is far more vivid in real life. Here are photos of both the interior and exterior... View full entry
The Home Office is considering cutting international student numbers at UK universities by nearly half, Education Guardian can reveal. The threat is being greeted with dismay by university heads, who say some good overseas applicants are already being refused visas on spurious grounds.
The home secretary, Amber Rudd, pledged a crackdown on international student numbers at the Conservative party conference in October, to include tougher visa rules for “lower quality” universities and courses.
— the Guardian
But senior university sources are warning that the cutbacks could be far more severe than expected. They say they have seen Home Office plans that model slashing overseas student numbers, with one option to cut the current 300,000 to 170,000 a year.For more on the culture of post-Brexit UK, follow... View full entry
Sometime in the not too distant future we will look back at traditional malls as an anachronism – something that started with the post World War II move to the suburbs, peaked in 1990, and faded away, according to the billionaire Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso, whose properties include the Grove and the Americana at Brand.
Millions of dollars are being spent on refurbishing and renovating malls in Los Angeles in an attempt to offer online shoppers an incentive to go outdoors. According to this report by KPCC, the big-league mall masterminds, including Grove guru Rick Caruso, are purposefully trying to redesign malls... View full entry
The very thing that makes modern cities vibrant and culturally dominant – increasing population density, and the atmosphere and networks that result from it – has left them politically under-represented. Meanwhile, the scattered and thinned-out populations of many struggling rural and small town areas distribute their voters through the British and American electoral systems much more efficiently. — Andy Beckett – The Guardian
Related on Archinect:The V&A's Martin Roth on Brexit: 'Me-first mentality' spreading through Europe is 'brutal'Brexit means Brexit: architects Rob Hyde, Katy Marks and Mark Middleton on how Brexit could change UK-architecture (and how architects could change Brexit), on Archinect Sessions... View full entry
As part of the newly launched interdisciplinary Antarctic Biennial, architect Gustav Dusing and artist Sho Hasegawa will be sent to Antarctica in March 2017 for what could be described as an inspiring, if chilly, imaginative tabula rasa. The winners for the Biennial were chosen during this year's... View full entry
In this eye-candy survey of Iran's newest architectural projects and prevailing trends, Architectural Digest takes a closer look at how the country's architects and architecture is shifting to not only attract more media attention, but to create a new visual identity:"Right now, the massive trend... View full entry
What better way to teach high school-age students how to tackle the problems of urban planning than with Legos? This was the thought of the Urban Land Institute, which according to this article in Metro News put on a workshop for an 11th grade class in Toronto to help them plan a city that, while... View full entry
[Empty Gallery] is entirely black—black walls, black floors, black fittings. When you first enter, it is completely, utterly dark. It is only when you reach the first of the main art spaces that dim lighting illuminates the works on display.
“Hong Kong is so fast; the language of advertising is so strong and loud and intense. We’re amped up all the time... It helps you give art a chance to communicate.”
— theartnewspaper.com
Related on Archinect:Boyle Heights activists want all art galleries to GTFO of their neighborhoodNew Kulapat Yantrasast-designed Gagosian Gallery to open in San FranciscoSANAA chosen to design NSW Art Gallery expansionPrepare to soon spot the blackest of black materials in architecture View full entry
ISIS forces have retaken the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria, according to Syrian government media, the ISIS media wing and a human rights monitor. [...]
ISIS first seized control of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in May 2015. Syrian government forces recaptured it in March this year. [...]
ISIS demolished many of the city's ancient treasures, including the 1,800-year-old Arch of Triumph and the nearly 2,000-year-old Temple of Baalshamin, as well as the Temple of Bel.
— CNN
Palmyra previously in the Archinect news:Palmyra after ISIS: a first look at the level of destructionISIS militants have reportedly blown up Palmyra's Arch of TriumphISIS attacks second ancient Palmyra temple this monthISIS blows up 2,000-year-old Baalshamin temple in PalmyraISIS beheads leading... View full entry
For many in London, this is their last full week at work, meaning that there will be a lot of last minute meetings and numerous parties to attend in the run up to Christmas. Why not take an evening for yourself in what is (not-so-fondly) dubbed the 'silly season'? This week is a chance to... View full entry
The tiny house is just one example of the lengths to which people will go to create a sense of home even when they lack the means for it. It’s just one symptom of a much wider and intensifying search for belonging, which makes home as important to politics as the idea of class or rights – especially now, when so many people feel displaced, both literally and figuratively, by life in innovation-driven, high-tech, networked capitalism. — Aeon
Related stories in the Archinect news:Humans and other things that nestHow Tadao Ando defines his own "home for the spirit"The downsides of the charming "holdout" houses View full entry
